DVD REVIEW: Thor & Loki - Blood Brothers Motion Comic

[JessHorsley]

Amazing art and impressive story come to life in new motion comic...

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If you're a fan of Shout Factory's previously released motion comics, including Iron Man: Extremis, Astonishing X-Men: Gifted, Spider-Woman: Agent of S.W.O.R.D., or Black Panther or if you're simply a fan of Marvel's God of Thunder, you'll want to hurry out and pick up the recently released Thor & Loki: Blood Brothers motion comic, available now on DVD thanks to Shout Factory & Marvel Knights Animation.

Based on the brilliant 2003 Loki miniseries by Robert Rodi and Esad Ribic, Thor & Loki: Blood Brothers reveals in all of its tragedy and desperation the love/hate relationship the pair share. Loki, the oftentimes violent enemy of Thor and the Avengers, is the new ruler of Asgard. Looking over his kingdom, Loki finds the only way to cement his power and gain the respect of those he rules is to execute the prisoner chained in the dungeons of Asgard, Thor, his half-brother, arch-enemy, and the only one to ever show him love.

A tangled story that's both poignant in it's theme and brilliant in its presentation, Thor & Loki: Blood Brothers - more than any other motion comic so far - deserves to be called "animation." Shout Factory has done a good job of not specifically describing these as "animated" since they're more a mix of adding motion to the original comic artwork (similar in type to those Flash animations available online). That said, this DVD blends the beautiful original artwork from Ribic's miniseries' artwork complimented by computer-generated 3-D artwork, including majestic settings and detailed characters. The blending of the two makes the motion comic a masterpiece that'll impress even those apprehensive to give "animated comics" a try.

The disc itself comes packaged like previous motion comics in a book-style package with impressive artwork on the cover, and a detailed description of the story as well as DVD information on the back.

As for special features, the DVD includes a "Look Back" with writer Rodi and artist Ribic which is interesting for those who are fans of the original miniseries and a "Behind the Scenes" making of the motion comic, which will impress those wondering just how they bring to life the original artwork and make the characters, backgrounds, and settings move. Other special features include trailers for previously released motion comics.

Overall, for those fans who've enjoyed previously released motion comics, for fans of Thor and Loki, or for those fans who've been apprehensive about giving a "motion comic" a little over an hour of their life, Thor & Loki: Blood Brothers is a great investment. It's got gorgeous artwork, a solid story that's both emotional and action-packed, and a great blending of animation and original comic artwork.

Thor & Loki: Blood Brothers is available now on DVD wherever fine home video is sold.


- Jess C. Horsley

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